Markings for Bf 109G-6 1/72
Bf 109G-6, WNr. 15919, Maj. Hermann Graf, CO of JG 50, Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Germany, September 1943
Hermann Graf scored a total of 212 kills, most of them (202) on the Eastern Front. On September 16, 1942, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Swords and Diamonds, the highest German war decoration at the time, for achieving 172 victories. Graf flew this brightly colored aircraft in the autumn of 1943 when he commanded JG 50. In June 1943, Hermann Graf founded a unit to pursue Mosquito aircraft at high altitude, named Jagdgeschwader Süd (not to be confused with Jagdgruppe Süd), which was renamed Jagdgeschwader 50 on September 1. The figure of the Roter Jäger (Red Hunter) symbolized the Luftwaffe football team, in which Graf played alongside a number of the German national team members at the time, and which was known as the Rote Jäger (Red Hunters). Within JG 50, only the squadron headquarters and I. Gruppe were established, and the unit was incorporated into I./JG 301 at the end of October 1943.
Bf 109G-6, Oblt. Theodor Weissenberger, 6./JG 5, Idriza-Pleskau (Pskov), the Soviet Union, January 1944
Theodor Weissenberger was born on December 21, 1914, in Mühlheim am Main. He joined the Luftwaffe in October 1936. Initially he flew the Bf 110s with 1.(Z)/JG 77, which was redesignated 10.(Z)/JG 5 in April 1942. In September 1942 he became a Bf 109 pilot with 6./JG 5. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross in November 1942 after achieving 38 victories and destroying a number of ground targets, including locomotives. In June 1943 he was appointed commander of 7./JG 5 and in early August, after achieving his 104th victory, he was awarded the Oak Leaf Cluster. At the end of September 1943 he took command of 6./JG 5 and in April 1944 he was appointed commander of the whole of II./JG 5. In early June 1944 he left the Eastern Front and became commander of I./JG 5 in Normandy. In December 1944, he became commander of I./JG 7 with the Me 262 jets, and in mid-January 1945 was appointed Commodore of JG 7. In total, he achieved 208 victories, eight of them flying a Me 262. He died on June 10, 1950, during an automobile race at the Nürburgring. His Bf 109G-6 Black 4 was in standard Mtt Regensburg camouflage completed with white patches on the upper surfaces. This design was necessary for the area and period of operation of 6./JG 5 in the climatic conditions.
Bf 109G-6/R6, Hptm. Anton Hackl, Stab III./JG 11, Oldenburg, Germany, January 1944
After recovering from a severe wound sustained in Africa on February 4, 1943, during a dogfight with a P-38 Lightning, Anton Hackl returned to combat activity in September 1943. Hptm. Hackl, by that time already an ace with 126 kills and a recipient of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, was reassigned to III./JG 11, incorporated into the Reich Defense system. The following month he took command of the unit. During his time with JG 11, which ended with another wound on April 15, 1944, this time in combat with American P-47s, he had already scored 141 kills. During his subsequent treatment he received the Knight’s Cross with the Swords. After his recovery, he continued his service as commander of other Luftwaffe units. Anton Hackl is reported to have shot down a total of 192 enemy aircraft (34 of which were four-engine bombers) during World War II, with another 24 listed as unconfirmed kills. He died on July 9, 1984, in his hometown of Reims. Anton Hackl’s aircraft was sprayed with the standard Luftwaffe camouflage colors of the Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg. The tail section of his aircraft was painted white for quicker recognition of the formation leader during aerial combat. On the rear of the fuselage, there was sprayed the designation of the JG 11 aircraft – a yellow stripe, 900 mm wide.
Bf 109G-6/R6, Maj. Ludwig Franzisket, CO of I./JG 27, Fels am Wagram, Austria, January 1944
Ludwig Franzisket began his combat career with 1. Staffel of JG 1 (later III./JG 27) and scored his first kills in May 1940 over the Netherlands. He later took part in the campaign in France and from September 1940 he served with Staff I./JG 27. Franzisket received the Knight’s Cross during his service in Africa on July 23, 1941, after he had achieved 22 kills. In December that year he was appointed commander of I./JG 27 and in the summer of 1943 he took command of the entire I./JG 27. At the time the unit operated in the skies over the Reich, where it faced Allied air raids. Franzisket’s victories include two B-17s shot down near Schweinfurt on October 14, 1943. The total score eventually stood at 43 victories, including four B-17s. The green stripe around the rear of the fuselage was used to mark JG 27’s aircraft as part of the Reich’s air defenses. The JG 27 emblem was painted on the engine. The double black wedge on the fuselage symbolized Franzisket’s command position. The white rudder marked the aircraft of the leader of the formation.
Bf 109G-6/R6, WNr. 440190, Lt. Alfred Hammer, CO of 6./JG 53, Vienna-Seyring, Austria, February 1944
Alfred “Martello” Hammer achieved a total of 26 victories during World War II. His first prey was a Spitfire shot down over Malta on October 25, 1942, the last one was Auster destroyed on April 14, 1945. Hammer’s entire war service was with JG 53 “Pik As”. From November 1941 he underwent operational training with Erg.Gr./JG 53 and in March 1942 was assigned to 4./JG 53. In February 1943, he became adjutant of II./JG 53 and led 6./JG 53 from July. In early 1945 he took command of IV./JG 53 and remained in this post until the end of the war. He flew the Bf 109G-6 WNr. 440190 during combat operations of JG 53 from the base in Vienna, where it moved after the retreat from the Mediterranean. He was probably flying this aircraft, when he was wounded by defensive fire of B-17 over Linz on January 24, 1944. On the nose of Hammer’s Messerschmitt, there was the ace of spades painted, which was the emblem of JG 53. The red stripe around the rear of the fuselage identified the aircraft used by JG 53 at that time.
Bf 109G-6/R6, WNr. 26048, Oblt. Friedrich Brock, 8./JG 54, Ludwigslust, Germany, January 1944
Friedrich Brock was born on May 6, 1916, in Perlach. In August 1939, he began his training at the Schule/Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment 23 in Kaufbeuren. In November 1940 he transferred to Flugzeugführerschule A/B 63 in Marienbad. In March 1942 he joined Jagdfliegervorschule 3 in Vienna-Schwechat. He completed his fighter pilot training on November 12, 1942, with Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Ost in France. His first combat unit became 8./JG 54 at Siverskaya Air Base on November 13, 1942. In January 1943, III./JG 54 was transferred to Oldenburg to defend northern Germany. There Brock achieved his first kill on June 13, 1943. He was shot down several times during fightings with American B-17s but was seriously wounded on April 8, 1944. His “Black 8” machine bore all the identifying features of the period, i.e., the 8./JG 54 emblem on the nose, the III./JG 54 emblem under the cockpit, and a blue identification stripe on the rear. Flying this aircraft, Uffz. Günther Sahl was shot down and killed on April 9, 1944. After his recovery, Friedrich Brock became the operations officer of III./JG 54 (later renamed IV./JG 26) in October 1944 and did not intervene in combat anymore. In May 1945 he was captured and after his release in September 1945 he devoted himself to his profession as a dentist. He died on May 3, 1994, in Berlin.